Philosopher
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo
Overview
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714 – 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 1767, he became a judge in the Court of Session.
As such, Burnett adopted an honorary title based on the name of his father's estate and family seat, Monboddo House. Monboddo was one of a number of scholars involved at the time in development of early concepts of biological evolution. Some credit him with anticipating in principle the idea of natural selection that was read by (and acknowledged in the writings of) Erasmus Darwin. Charles Darwin read the works of his grandfather Erasmus and later developed the ideas into a scientific theory.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Philosophers who discussed James Burnett, Lord Monboddo
Ideas James Burnett, Lord Monboddo discusses
- Greek language
- Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
- Isaac Newton
- Marischal College
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Dugald Stewart
- Natural selection
- Species
- Naturism
- Quechuan languages
- On the Origin of Species
- Theory
- Yale University
- Samuel Johnson
- Algonquian languages
- Charles Dickens
- Climate
- James Boswell
- David Hume
- Charles Darwin
- Deism
- Evolution
- Erasmus Darwin
- Edinburgh
Place in the tradition
Part of British philosophy.
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